Two words come to mind when you mention great Australian Merlot. Jim Irivne. Jim's Grand Merlot is the benchmark of complex and elegant Merlot in Australia and his Eden Valley vineyards are the perfect place to produce this iconic wine.

When you open the bottle of Capel Vale Debut Merlot, the warming aroma of ripe plums, mulberry and briary notes fills your glass. A great balance of the acidity, juicy red fruits and soft tannins delivers an enjoyable wine with a med savoury finish.

The Bethany Cabernet Merlot from the Schrapel family's Bethany winery exhibits herbal blackberry and cherry flavours with subtle oak in the background. Drinking well now, but also can handle a little bit of medium term cellaring to really coax those soft, ripe tannins to infuse beautifully with its primary fruit.

A pioneer of Merlot, James Irvine has produced an attractive plump style with leafy plum and mulberry flavours. The perfect match with crown of lamb.

Tempus Two Cabernet Merlot is well-balanced and full-bodied, exhibiting rich berry fruit and chocolate flavours. Matured in both French and American barriques for ten months to capture and enhance the complexities of these two varieties

Pure Vision's Organic Merlot is an outstanding value Merlot, taking on bottle aged secondary flavours of poached plum and soft tannins, yet still vibrant and youthful in spirit. Delicious.

From one of Margaret River's best and original producers, Vasse Felix comes this excellent Cabernet Merlot blend has great concentration of blackcurrant fruit with cedary oak and fine tannins - a style with elegance and finesse rather than power.

Amelia Park, although a recent player in the Margaret River Wine scene, have made an astonishing impact. Jeremy Gordon takes a hands on approach to all things at his winery and the results are for everyone to see. Already a multi award-winner, the Amelia Park Cabernet Merlot is a seamless wine that is wonderfully medium-bodied with a fine acid backbone that simply sings from beginning to end.

This 2014 Rosabrook Cabernet Merlot is one of the Margaret River's signature wine styles. Great licks of black fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon interlaced with the smooth plum characters on Merlot. It is a beautifully made wine with great balance and a lengthy finish. It will be great with meat dishes or even a cheese platter. Owned by Calneggia Family Vineyards, one of Margaret River's pioneering grape growers with winemaker legend Brian Fletcher pulling the winemaking levers.